Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I have a Bit of Namma Bengaluru in Me

The other day I finally applied for a voter's ID card in Bangalore. I already have a passport issued from here, a pan card with my Bangalore address, a bank account nearby and a child with an unmistakable Kannada accent! Bangalore is the city in which I first set up home independently with the Mr, and miracle of miracles, we managed to do so successfully inspite of the utter confusion of our erractic routines and schedule changes. Bangalore is where my one year old mite grew up to be all of six. Bangalore is where my Brat Girl metamorphosed from a slow and listless child into a bright student with varied interests, a peotess (known as the 'Sarojini Naidu' of our building), a dancer (she was cleared her first year exams for Odissi), she has honed her artistic skills and won many prizes and also learnt classical music for eight months! All in all, the city as given me much, all this, after the fact that I still do not know Kannada so well! We have spent a pleasant time here, this was my first stint as a 'housewife' and I think I did a pretty decent job of it, though I am pretty much straining at the leash now that the mite will go to ClassI in a month or two and i will have enough time to rejoin the work force!
Bangalore is now our (Namma) city, it is a growing city, a city perpetually under construction. On our last Calcutta visit the Brat observed- " ekhane shob kichchu khub purono" (every thing is very old and worn here), she is used to seeing bright new buildings and swank new Malls springing up on both sides of the road in Bangalore!The Bangaloreans use very bright colours for the exterior of their shops and homes that also leads to the brightess and newness of the place. I have even begun to look upon the strange practices of washing clothes outside houses using methods of the dhobi ghat (smashing the clothes upon stone slabs or rocks to smitherines) or chucking of garbage on every vacant spot with benign indulgence! Now with all the official 'proof' of my identity being rooted in this city, Bangalore has left an indelible mark upon me, it has claimed me as its own and it occupies a spcial space in me. Thank you Bangalore for all that you've given me!